THE CLOSET MYSTIC

what a gift it is

to be inspired

to be capable of inspiration,

the spirit vivified

by an idea

with a life

and soul

of its own —

is this not what separates us

from the base nature,

from the merely animal?

inspiration

is our encounter

with divinity.

there is nothing that feeds my soul more.

there is no trait

more attractive.

bring to me, bring to me the inspired,

inspiration gives the spirit wings —

inspiration concretizes the ideal —

inspiration is my North Star,

inspiration is what brings us

from surviving,

to living —

inspiration is the blazing Morningstar

found in novels,

found in the eyes of a true lover,

found in tracing your hands

along the bark of a Great Oak,

found in the hidden realms

of civilizations of bugs

crawling through what to them

is great forests

of grass blades

inspiration

is where we meet God,

in a way that atheists and theists

can agree upon

inspiration is the learning of a language

such that life’s cryptic scribblings

are suddenly intelligible

inspiration

is the beginning, middle, and end

of a meaningful life

and I will fight

till the day I die

to preserve that treasure

oh, heavens, sacred One —

grant me inspiration, feed me that nectar

let my heart pump not merely mortal blood,

but that golden ambrosia,

that makes my veins glow,

visible underneath the surface —

let me find those who glow,

Glow greater than me,

Let me follow them,

let me learn from them